INTERNATIONAL PEACE GARDEN
IODE is very proud to be involved with the world-renowned International Peace Garden since its inception in 1932.
The International Peace Garden began as a dream of Dr. Henry J. Moore of Islington, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Moore, the lecturing horticulturist for the Ontario Department of Agriculture, was on his way home from the 1928 annual meeting of the National Association of Gardeners, a U.C. organization, when he conceived of the idea of a botanical garden commemorating the long, peaceful coexistence of the people of Canada and the United States.
The proposal was approved, an international committee was formed, and the search began for an appropriate site for the garden. Dr. Moore and Joseph Dunlop of South Euclid, Ohio, came to the Turtle Mountains at the invitation of the International Peace Picnic Association – a group formed, in part, to promote the area as the location for the International Peace Garden. Moore and Dunlop liked what they saw.
Said Moore after an airplane trip over the area: “What a sight greeted the eye! Those undulating hills rising out of limitless prairies filled with lakes and streams. On the south of the unrecognizable boundary, wheat fields everywhere; on the north, the Manitoba Forest Preserve. What a place for a garden!”
The International peace Garden was dedicated on July 14, 1932, with a crowd estimated as high as 50,000 people in attendance.
Nestled on the United Sates and Canadian borders of North Dakota and Manitoba, in a symbol of friendship, lies the “One of a Kind” International Peace Garden. Dedicated to peace and friendship between Canada and the United States, the Garden celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2007. Devoted to World Peace, along the world’s longest unfortified border, lies a 2,339-acre Botanical Garden.
The National Chapter of Canada IODE, through donations from members across the country, has among other things established and maintains the Birch Grove Picnic area.
The impressive entrance was donated by IODE.
In celebration of the 90th anniversary of The National Chapter of Canada IODE, IODE built the IODE Percussive Arts Centre for the Music Camp at the International Peace Garden. Today, students from around the world attend the International Music Camp.
The IODE Birch Grove Picnic Area in the garden was restored by IODE in 2007.
